Description
Book SynopsisThe Bell System dominated telecommunications in the United States and Canada for most of the twentieth century, but its monopoly was not inevitable. In the decades around 1900, ordinary citizens—farmers, doctors, small-town entrepreneurs—established tens of thousands of independent telephone systems, stringing their own wires to bring this new technology to the people. Managed by opportunists and idealists alike, these small businesses were motivated not only by profit but also by the promise of open communication as a weapon against monopoly capital and for protection of regional autonomy. As the Bell empire grew, independents fought fiercely to retain control of their local networks and companies—a struggle with an emerging corporate giant that has been almost entirely forgotten.
The People''s Network reconstructs the story of the telephone''s contentious beginnings, exploring the interplay of political economy, business strategy, and social practice
Trade Review
"Original, impressive, and a tremendous pleasure to read. The independent telephone movement has been utterly neglected by historians; with wide-ranging research, Robert MacDougall makes a persuasive case for its significance." * Rebecca Edwards, Vassar College *
Table of Contents
Introduction. A Fight with an Octopus
Chapter 1. All Telephones Are Local
Chapter 2. Visions of Telephony
Chapter 3. Unnatural Monopoly
Chapter 4. The Independent Alternative
Chapter 5. The Politics of Scale
Chapter 6. The System Gospel
Conclusion. Return to Middletown
Notes
Index
Acknowledgments
